No, this wasn't meant to be a tour of the different Chinese ethnic groups in KL or anything like that. This was just a convenient spot to hit as my co-workers tempted me with post-work beer in an alfresco spot (6 Jalan Kia Peng, 2143-1908) that apparently is also quite used to dealing with Japanese tourists. Anyway, as the name suggests, this place specializes in Hakka food, so we picked up a number of items ranging from some gooey (but delicately light) tofu dish to some very simple (but very fresh) prawns.
One must-have that my co-workers told me about was this sliced pork thing that you're supposed to shove in between those sliced buns to create a bit of a sandwich (or should it be called a Chinese hamburger?). The good thing was that it wasn't too sweet, and the fat layers of the pork certainly gave the sandwich a great taste and tender texture. My head nodded in approval.
Another centerpiece of the meal was some kind of butter crab, which I presume to mean that it was cooked in not only real butter, but also the crab butter underneath the shell to create a very rich yellow sauce on top also suitable for bun-dipping. The crab here was also very fresh and generally a worthwhile experience.
Finally, it was interesting to see the beer poured into these little half-glasses that thus required constant refilling. It wasn't an issue as the wait staff here were very quick to do so without even your need to prompt them, but I'd just never really seen such half-sized beer glasses before (and I still have yet to master the art of drinking hot Chinese tea out of a heat-conducting glass vessel rather than insulating porcelain).
3 comments:
I think it was the Hainanese cooks who cooked for their colonial bosses.
You may like to check out Chin Chin Eating House on Purvis Street in Singapore. It's not as great as it used to be, but it does serve a variety of Hainanese dishes.
Their pork chop (in ketchup sauce) is pretty good.
I showed my aunt your blog and she says that the sliced pork thing is Hokkien. If you ever crave this in Singapore, you gotta go to a Hokkien restaurant instead of a Hakka one.
And she had these glasses for tea at her wedding like years ago. This place is totally retro!
She says the trick is to not let the glass fill up so you can still hold it.
If you liked the pork buns, you can try them at Westlake Eating House in Singapore. I know them as 'kong ba bao', which is hokkien, but the site lists them as a sichuan dish. maybe it's just a common dish?
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